Congress contested Delhi polls to ensure BJP's win, poured in crores of rupees: AAP

New Delhi: The AAP on Monday alleged that the Congress colluded with the BJP in the 2025 Delhi Assembly elections and poured in crores of rupees without running any ground campaign to ensure the Arvind Kejriwal-led party's defeat.

Delhi Pradesh Congress Media Cell Chairman Anil Bhardwaj strongly rejected the AAP's allegations, calling them fabricated and baseless.

Addressing a press conference, AAP Delhi unit president Saurabh Bharadwaj said the disclosure by the city Congress leadership confirmed what his party had long suspected -- that the Congress contested the assembly polls earlier this year not to win, but to help the BJP win.

The Congress targeted every senior AAP leader, spent about Rs 46 crore, including Rs 44 crore in cash, and yet failed to open its account, he claimed.

"Normally, people guess one party is supporting another. But this time, it has been admitted that the Congress deliberately worked to ensure the BJP's win in Delhi. Even intellectual Congress supporters should ask what their party is doing," he added.

Bharadwaj further claimed that the Congress high command, including its president Mallikarjun Kharge and former chief Rahul Gandhi, approved the decision during its central election committee meetings.

"The Congress was already at zero in Delhi, and even after spending crores, it remained at zero," the AAP leader said.

Bharadwaj said the AAP spent Rs 14 crore on the elections and the BJP Rs 57 crore.

"When the AAP received Rs 1 crore through a cheque, the prime minister made it a big issue. But when the Congress collected Rs 44 crore in cash, there was complete silence," he alleged and demanded a probe.

The way the BJP captured power by riding on regional parties, the Congress thinks it can crush regional parties and capture power, Bharadwaj alleged.

"In Bihar, the voters, cadre, and flag-bearers belong to Tejashwi Yadav, but free marketing is being done for Rahul Gandhi. On the ground, the Congress has no cadre, no polling agents, yet the slogan raised is 'Zindabad Rahul Gandhi,'" he added.

AAP leaders Manish Sisodia and Atishi also accused the Congress of helping the BJP, saying the two parties maintained "friendship behind the scenes" while pretending to fight in public.

Delhi Pradesh Congress Media Cell Chairman Anil Bhardwaj said his party fought the assembly polls strongly on every seat, highlighting the failures of both the previous AAP government and the BJP-run municipal corporation.

"The AAP has been doing the politics of lies and negativity since its inception. The AAP should look into its own affairs before blaming the Congress," he said in a statement.

"Every citizen of the country knows that the Congress has an ideological battle with the BJP. No one can ever accuse the Congress of helping the BJP in elections and if someone does so, it only shows their narrow mentality," he asserted.

Bhardwaj further alleged that it was the AAP that helped the BJP by fielding candidates in various states, including Goa, Uttarakhand, Gujarat and Haryana, with the sole intention of cutting Congress votes.

In the February 5 assembly polls, the BJP returned to power in Delhi after 26 years, winning 48 of 70 seats. The AAP secured 22 seats while the Congress drew a blank.